Seed-corn holder.



L. a W, GOETTSCH.. SEED CORN HOLDER. APPLICATION FILE DEC.26| 19H5.

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l"l mit@ SEED-CORN lOlILDEB,9

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.. 4, 494'?.

Application filed December 26, 1916. Serial No. 138,772.

l To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that we, Louis Gonr'rsorr and WILLIAM Gon'rTsoI-r, Citizens of the United States of America, and residents of Davene port and Donahue, Iowa, respectively, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Seed-Corn Holders, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in seed corn holderswthat is, to a device for holding seed corn for drying and storage purposes.

One of the objects of our invention is t0. provide a seed corn holder which is very simple and inexpensive to'manufacture, and one in which the ears of corn are held tightly in place so that there is no danger of the same dropping out when theholder is moved from place to place, or is agitated by the wind or other force.

Further features of our invention relate to having the seed corn holder so constructed that the ears of corn may be easily placed in same and then locked and held in the holder, and likewise the device is of such a character that the ears of corn may be readily removed from the holder when desired.

Further objects of our invention consist in having the corn so held in the holder that each ear is separately held in such a manner that the air is free to circulate around each ear and thus the drying proceeds much more V effectively and rapidly.

Further objects of our invention consists in having the holder very portable; that is, it consists of lcomparatively small units which can be hung at any convenient place and it is capable of unlimited expansion by merely adding additional units which may ybe hung one'upon the other.

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illuestimated` our device tennista essen@ tially 0f two members 4 and 5, made preferably of spring wire. The body member 4 is preferably rectangular in form and the sides of the same are provided with a plurality of semi-circular depressions 6 of a size suitable to receive the various ears of corn to be dried. Attached to one end of this `rectangular member 4 are a pair of supporting hooks 7---72L which may be secured to the end wire'of this member 4 in any suitable manner, and are arranged at right angles to each other. The holding member 5is preferably triangular in form and at its base curves down-ward slightly, as shown in Fig. 2, and then curves around beneath the end wire of the member 4, the central portion 8 of the base of this triangular member being bent upward and partially around the end wire of the member 4 so that this tri-` angular member 5 is pivotally mounted upon the member 4. At the apex of the triangular member 5, the two side wires are twisted together, and one of the same is formed into a laterally extending hook 9 which is adapted to engage with the shank of the hooks 7-7a to lock the two members 4-and 5 together, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

ln order to fill the holder, the hook 9 is first disengaged from the body member 4, and the member 5 then swung upwardly away from the member 4. The ears of corn are then placed in the various semi-circular depressions or pockets formed in the body member 4, and the holdingmclinber 5 then swung downwardly so that the hook 9 may be latched over the Shanks of the hooks 7 to lock the two members together, thus holding the ears of corn in place in the various pockets. lt will be noticed that normally the side wires of the body members 4 are slightly bowed, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2. thus forming a yielding and springlike support for the ears ofV corn when the member 5 isforced into locking engagement with-the body member 4.

In order to more securely hold the intermediate ears of corn in place, and to enable these various ears of corn to beheld firmly, even though of varying sizes, we

`provide an intermediate locking or holding member consisting of 'two members of vided with an intermediate loop in which one end of the member l1 is fastened by means of loop l2.; '.lhe opposite end of the member 1l -is provided with a hook 13, while the two ends of the member 10 are provided with hook portions 14-15 When the two 'members 4-5 have been locked in place, as heretofore described, the hook 14 of the member 10 is hooked beneath one of the intermediate loops 16 formed in the side members 4 between two adjacent semi-circular pockets, and the hook 13 ot the member 11 is looped beneath an opposite loop 17. The free end of the member 10 is then swung downwardly over the two sideY members of the triangular holding member 5 and pressed downward on the same until the opposite hook 15 is hooked beneath the member 11. This member 5 being made of spring wire, is of suiiicient resiliency so that this pressure of the locking member 10 presses rthis spring wire 5 against the intermediate ears of corn and holds them in place, even though these ears are of varying sizes.

When the holder has Abeen loaded in this manner, it can then be hung in an upright position by means of either one ot the hooks 7-^7a, and then another similar holder can be hung from the lower wire of the member 4 vand thus a whole string of these holdersfcan be supported Jfrom a single hook.

` When it is desired to unload the device, it is merely necessary to disconnect the locking member l0 and then disengage the hook 9 from the member 4, at which time the holding member 5 canjbe swung upwardly and the ears of corn easily removed.

It will be seen from this construction that the device can be very easily loaded and unloaded and can be readily supported in various' positions, and furthermore that the corn is held so that each ear is separated from the adjacent ear by a suitable air space so that there is a free circulation of air on all sides' of each ear of corn, thereby facilitating the drying operation. Furthermore, by' having' the device constructed of spring wire, as described, there is suiiicient resiliency to enable ears' of varying sizes to be firmly and securely held by the device thereby eliminatingA 4the danger of Vtheir dropping out when the device is moved from one place to another, or is agitated from any other cause.

While we' have illustrated one particular embodiment loi" our invention, it will, of course be understood that various changes and modifications will readily sugdest themselves to those using the device without departing from the scope ot our invention.

What we claim as our' invention is:

1. In al seed corn holder, a body member 4provided with alined depressions for the reception of ears of' corn, a second holding member p'w'otallyl mounted on said rst member and adapted to be brought down into-engagement with the corn in the' holder,

and means for locking said second member to said first member in said holding position.

2. In a seed corn holder, a rectangular body member provided with alined semicircular depressions for the reception of ears ot corn, a second holding member pivotally mounted on one end of said body member and adapted to be swung into engagement with the ears of corn carried by said body member and provided with a hook adapted to engage with the opposite end of said body member for locking the two members together.

3. In a seed corn holder, a body member formed of spring wire, and provided with alined depressions for the reception of ears of corn, a second holding member of spring wire pivotally mounted on said body member, and provided with means for locking Said holding member in position to hold the ears of corn in the depressions in said body member.

4. In a vseed corn holder, a rectangular body member formed ot spring wire, provided with alined semi-circular depressions for the reception ot ears of corn, a second holding member formed of spring wire pivotally mounted on one end of said body member and adapted to be swung into engagement with the ears of corn carried by said body member and provided with a hook adapted to engage with the opposite end of said body member for locking the two members together.

5. In a seed cern holder, a body member formed of spring wire, and provided with alined depressions for the reception ot ears of corn, a second holding member ot spring wire pivotally mounted on said body member, provided with means for locking said holding member in position to hold the ears of corn in the depressions in said body meinber, and means intermediate the ends of said holding member for forcing said member into engagement with the ears of corn.

6. In a seed corn holder, a rectangular body member formed of spring wire provided with alined semi-circular depressions for the reception of ears of corn, a second holding member formed of spring wire pivotally mounted on one end of said body member and adapted to be swung into engagement with the ears of corn carried by said body member and provided with a hook adapted to engage with the opposite end of said body member for locking the two members together, and means intermediate the ends ot' said holding member for forcing said member into engagement with the ears oi corn.

7. In a seed corn holder, a. rectangular body member formed of spring wire and provided with a plurality of depressions for the reception of ears of corn, a triangular readme holding member of spring Wire pivotally mounted at its base to one end of said body member and provided with a hook at its' apex for engagement with the opposite end of Said body member, whereby said holding member is locked in position for holding said ears of corn Within said body member.

S. In a seed corn holder, a rectangular body member formed of spring Wire and provided With a plurality of depressions for the reception of ears of corn, a triangular holding member of spring Wire pivotally mounted at its base to one end of said body member and provided With a hook at its apex for engagement with the opposite end of Said body member, whereby said holding member is locked in position for holding said ears of corn Within said body member, and means intermediate the ends of said holding number for forcing said member into engagement with the ears of corn.

Signed by us at Davenport, Scott county, Iowa, this 21st day of December, 1916.

LOUIS GOETTSCH. WILLAM GOETTSGH.

Gomes o.' this patent may be obtained for ve vente each, by addressing the ommllseioner at Patente. Washington, D. 

